The day had started out as they always did at Gau's place. Get up early, take a show, get to work, rest. It was now time for lunch break for the house, giving time for themselves to relax, and unwind. Gau was busily cooking up a hearty lunch for the hard working kids. "I think we'll stay close down the rest of the day so we can all have time to relax. I was thinking about going to the beach if that interests you guys." The dema said. Ichigo, Taddle, and Clockwork all looked over and nodded. That sounded like fun to them. Yoko looked up from his book he was reading at the table and blushed. The beach!? How would he swim, he didn't want to... you know... Go shirtless. He did really wanna go though. It sounded fun and relaxing.

"I'll be heading on home, Gau. Hey, would you mind If I took some food back with me for the house?" A black haired male with green eyes asked. That was Sadin, a shiniko that lived at another house. He worked for Gau too. He was there covering for his housemate, Valhalla who caught a cold of all things. "Sure, we still have egg drop soup, take that home for Val, should help her feel better," Gau told him while the young man gathered up some stuff to take home. He was moving slow like he was recovering from a nasty injury, which he was still, but he was healed enough to work. "Thanks, Gau. This really helps a lot to be able to work and get food head. I don't like asking the housemates to do too much for me."

"It's no problem kiddo. Hurry on home before the mother chicken worries about you." Gau replied. Sadin nodded and headed out with a good large helping of lunch for his family.

“I- I’m not babying you, I promise. But- but you should really be on bed rest still.”

“I will shank you…”

“You’re injured. Please understand-“

“Oh don’t start. I’m /fine/.”

“Mora made me promise to keep an eye on you…”

“Mora can screw off! I can handle THIS at least. I’m not an invalid!”

“I understand your frustration, but really, I should-“

“You should /go home/,” The frustrated tone of Yoru cut back sharply. The small shiniko’s stature didn’t match her large temper or the burning anger in her gaze as it bore into the shiniko beside her. Kaliko, a shiniko she hardly knew, one that was coddling her house and had, in Yoru’s opinion, overstayed her need and welcome. She had been trailing behind her like some sort of dysfunctional helicopter mom more than even Mora. And that was saying something!

“UGH! Fine!” Yoru conceded, throwing her hands up and continuing on the way, “Follow behind me just in case I somehow manage to keel over and die walking down the sidewalk, because that’s not ridiculous at all!”

Kaliko gave a slightly victorious smile but only quietly noted, “It’s best to be careful.”

Rolling her eyes emphatically, Yoru padded up the steps to Gau’s restaurant and pushed right in without paying any mind to the closed sign. “Sadin, I’m here to pick you up and make sure you don’t die on the way home,” she announced as if it were super casual, but honestly, her house did have that kind of luck. She was concerned, even if she wouldn’t say so. “And helicopter nurse tagged along.”

Kaliko gave a polite smile and a small bow to Gau with a quiet, “Please excuse our intrusion.”

~~~

Shiloh was waking on freaking sunshine! He’d never felt so sneaky and cunning! Using his abilities to see through the guard’s eyes and find the blind spots was brilliant. Why hadn’t he thought of that before!?....Well, okay, that made him feel stupid, but- but- BUT! Hey! He thought of it now. That had to count for something. Right?....right.

That tore it. He was deciding to feel smart about this!

Striding down the sidewalk and feeling the sun on his dark face brought a light smile to Shiloh’s lips. He was gunna go hang with that adorable little dude from the market, Yoko. Maybe he’d get some scraps too. The dema, Gau, seemed pretty generous. Anyway, it was worth a shot at least. Real food was a delight! His mind had been opened to the world of good food and he could never look at the market slop the same way again. Stale bread and lightly expired goods just weren’t enough anymore. Ahhhh, yeah, he’d been tainted and blessed, it seemed, with a taste of the real world.

Striding up the steps, he saw the sign read closed and paused, hesitating at the door. Disappointment crept into his bones as he peered around the sign inside. Mm… Maybe-… Nah, he probably shouldn’t bother if they were closed. Easy come easy go, he supposed as he started to turn around. He only got a few steps down off the walkway before he turned around again to look at the door. It was awfully hard to get there and he hadn’t seen Yoko in a while… It was okay when Rat did it. Maybe?...

The towering giant of a young man, scuffed and bruised from fights, built with an intimidating fighter’s stature, seemed quite small and timid as he gently pushed the door open and leaned in. “Hey, is it okay if I come in?”

Sadin looked up as he was tying everything together and gave a look. "Oi, I can walk myself home. I'm not a kid!" He said, giving Yoru the same sass she was giving Kaliko. Gau smiled and laughed. "Aw, don't be bitter Sadin. You know it's a lot safer if you walk home with your family." He said. Sadin gave a huff while the dema continued. "Hello Yoru, hello Kaliko, it's nice to see you. Sadin was going to bring you guys home some lunch. You're welcome to sit down and enjoy some if you want."

Yoko watched the tree. These were shiniko he never knew until today. These were the war gods kids? The door opened again, and Yoko blushed a little. He spotted a face he knew, it was Shiloh. "Oh hello there Shiloh, come on in." Gau had called. He didn't mind the kid, he seemed nice. Yoko blushed again and waved.

"By the way, Yoru, Kaliko, we're going to head to the beach after lunch to have some relaxing time if you want to tag along you may. You too Shiloh." Gau called as he finished cooking up the massive piles of food for his hungry children.

Yoru gave an emphatic roll of her eyes just to tease the boy. “Of course you’re not a kid, Sadin.” She prodded him with her elbow. “You’re still the baby of the family. So you’re technically a /baby/. Totally different. My mistake.” The smirk on her face told that she was having too much of a good time tormenting him.

Kaliko gave a snort as she tried to choke back a laughter. She managed to stifle it, perhaps out of politeness. She couldn’t quite keep a straight face though as she chimed in, “Oh, don’t be mean.”

Yoru continued though, to actually explain, “Somehow there always seems to be trouble when people walk to and from this house and you’re still recovering-“

“-as are you.”

Yoru entirely ignored Kaliko’s interjection aside from a strong side eye and continued, “so I’m not taking any chances.”

Yoru’s confidence quickly abandoned her when Gau mentioned the beach, however. The lunch had pretty much just lingered in the back of her head as an option but she was going to see what Sadin wanted to do. As soon as he mentioned the beach, though, she knew that meant he’d probably offer her one of his swim suits that he had for the girls or something. “That’s uh…mighty generous,” She returned, intentionally hiding her nerves with a look of disgust at the idea, “But I’m gunna have to pass.”

“Aw, no, I think it sounds like a great time,” Kaliko offered her opinion openly, her eyes gleaming. She was the QUEEN of volley ball and all things outdoors! “I can just pop back over to the house real fast and grab our things. It’s really no trouble at all. After all, we don’t have anything else today, right Yoru?”

“Can you go back to being cripplingly shy and utterly useless?” Yoru’s words hissed out of her mouth as she turned her head to glare daggers into the girl.

“Well, I think it’s a great idea. I, for one, would love to go. And since I’m the acting nurse, I’ll just have to take you with me~” Kaliko’s sweet, innocent grin was definitely extra sweet just to tease Yoru. She could feel it. This woman was hidden evil…EEEEVIL!!!

~~~

Shiloh couldn’t care less what those girls were bickering about. He recognized the one of them, but hadn’t really met her in person, so he couldn’t be bothered. Instead, he saw someone he did know. “Eeey! It’s the sugar pea~” he piped up as soon as he saw Yoko, waving back. Yes, indeed, he did call the poor, small boy a sugar pea. But it just made sense to him. Sweet like sugar, small, pale, like a sugar snap pea! Or…wait, was it sweat pea? Was that an actual pea, or a flower? Now he was confused…

When invited in, the normally difficult to read fighter was jovial and bright. He gave the dema a light bow, as he had been taught to always do on the market, but a bright smile to the shiniko he’d come to see. He didn’t have many he could call a friend, but he’d taken a shining to Yoko, enough that he was willing to sneak out away from the confinement of the market to hang around with the boy.

As he strode over to where Yoko was, he heard the dema invite him to the beach. His ears and stomach immediately honed in on the lunch offer first, but the beach was more intriguing as far as his curiosity went. “Sure thing. Sounds like a good time,” he told the dema with a certain simplicity and straightforwardness. He didn’t really harm up and become real relaxed with demas easily. They were different from shiniko in his mind, demanding of respect and not to be loose with. When he turned to Yoko, though, he added his true thoughts more quietly but brightly, “I think I know what a beach is. I must have seen them in life, but I can’t recall what it’s really like. I haven’t been to one since I died and all. Are they cool?”

Sadin gave Yoru a look of 'How dare.' He glanced back at Gau. "We'll I was going to take some egg drop to Valhalla, but if Kaliko makes a run back to the house she could drop it off for her... Has Ves eaten yet too?" He asked. "I wouldn't mind sitting down to eat..." He added.

The boy was also not fond of the beach, he was just scared of water. But he could probably chill out on the sand. "You can wear shorts and a heavy shirt if you want Yoru. I won't force you into a swimsuit." Gau mentioned.

Yoko looked at Shiloh and blushed while smiling. "Hello, coffee bean." He replied. with a soft grin. He had a relieved look on his face when he heard Gau speak to Yoru about the swimwear. He'd be able to do the same. He looked over to Shiloh and smiled. "The beach is a sand bar that usually is connected to a body of water, like a lake or the ocean. Sometimes the ground is mud or a mix of mud and sand." He explained.

Sadin gave a soft sigh. "I guess I'll chill and eat here. It will be easier and I won't have to walk home. I'll let Ves know what's going on." He said before opening his phone and sent Ves a text.

"Hey pops, I'm going to eat my lunch over here at Gau's. Yoru and Kaliko are gonna join, then we're going to the beach. Thought I'd give you a heads up." He typed, and sent.

Yoru was all too pleased at the look she got from Sadin. Yesssssss, be shook! Her evil little mischievous side reveled in getting under people’s skin. A devilish little smirk curled on her lips for a moment, then returned to her normal stony exterior. Had to maintain proper emo levels, after all.

She did, however, sympathize on some level with Sadin. She did have a heart, after all, despite her best attempts to make people think it was icy cold and unbeating. “Sit yourself down,” she nudged him again, but more in the way she prodded Alex around. She was sort of like a bull when it came to being tender, not at all gentle but still concerned and protective. “You shouldn’t have been working today anyhow. You’re gunna pull something.”

Kaliko was practically sparkling when everything started to fall into place and people were headed to the beach. She probably hadn’t been that vibrant and excited since she’d gotten to the house. She’d mostly been quiet and unassuming, but she had taken on a more lively personality with the idea of getting out and about. Honestly, the most present she had been was when she was barking orders trying to knit Alex back together. Otherwise, she was polite and out of the way.

“I’d be happy to run something over for Miss Valhalla, but Mr. Vesuvius is out at the moment with Mora, which is why I’m keeping an eye on Yoru today,” She explained quickly, seeming eager to edge on the opportunity to go have a fun day, “And I’ll make sure to ask Natasha what you’d wear to the beach, Yoru. I’m sure she would know, right?”

AHHHH! That was a yes! Well- in a way, but a YES! Kaliko’s hands came together and Yoru could swear she was like a tiny little ball of sunshine. It was gross.

“I’ll go ahead and run this up then,” she happily replied, taking hold of the egg drop soup for Valhalla, “Be back in a jiff~” And with that, she was sweeping out the door in in her very quiet but swift way that she always moved about.

Shiloh grinned at being called a coffee bean in return. “Medium or dark roast?” he inquired playfully. An audible groan could be heard from the small Welshman in the kitchen, but they didn’t really let up. After the beach was explained, the market shiniko beamed, “I’d be glad to go. It sounds real cool. I bet you gotta know what there is to do there, huh? Show me the ropes?” Another audible moan.

“I’m definitely not going. Count me out!” Aderyn snipped in a groan, taking up a small bag and hiking it over his child-sized shoulder as he noted, “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on the patients over at Ves’s while the nurses take a break, after all, and Juliet’s not available. Besides, good excuse to avoid these dorks.”

Sadin smiled at Yoru and nudged her back with a smirk. "Fine." He said before heading to sit down at a table with everyone. He was glad Kaliko would run the food back for him. "Ah, I'm fine... I've been healing for a while now and I need to move around some. Plus I offered to cover for Val." He said.

Yoko smiled and chuckled, looking at Aderyn with an apologetic smile before looking back. "Dark." He replied. "And sure- I've only been to the beach once with Gau's but it was fun. The others will teach you too." He said before looking at Sadin. The memory shiniko looking him up and down.

Gau brought over the food and set out bowls and plates for everyone before petting Aderyn with a smile. "It's okay kiddo." He said softly. "I'm sure it will be less stressful to go relax at Ves' place. If you see him while you're there, force him to eat something, you know how he is." He said with a soft smile.

Yoru made a stubborn face like she refused to relent to that idea, but didn’t push it and instead silently conceded. She felt the same. She’d been cooped up too much and was getting restless in the house, especially given how crazy things had been of late. It was weird to have everyone quiet and resting now.

Shiloh let a laugh slip when he was labeled as dark coffee because he immediately had a pun spring to mind. “It’s alright. You can split the difference. We’ll pal around as a set. I’ll be coffee and you be cream.” He grinned and cuffed the smaller boy’s shoulder with his large fist. They were a funny sight. Small, short little pale blonde and a tall, scarred and scuffed up wall of a young man with a mess of dark hair. Quite the set indeed.

Aderyn passed by Sadin and Yoru with his usual nod of acknowledgment, just his silent ‘hey.’ As he passed Yoko, he did the same, but made sure to shoot Shiloh the stink eye. Didn’t seem to phase the boy. He swatted at the head pats and grumbled about being a grown man, despite being shorted than even Yoru and just about as baby faced. He did smile just slightly at his dema though, before shaking his head incredulously and heading out the door to go set up shop with Alex at Ves’s. “I’ll see if I can pin down the giant toddler,” he agreed with his dema, but really just was intending to check on Alex mostly. He wanted to keep an eye on that boy. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with the mushy lumps at the beach all day.

And thus, that left Yory to slide into the seat across from Sadin and give him a swift but not hard kick in the shin just to bother him under the table. Her tiny legs were safe, coiling up on the seat beside her. She was just feeling like a troll today it seemed. She played absolutely innocent, as if nothing had happened, when she looked to the kid that introduced himself as Yoko. “I’m Yoru,” she stated simply. She never was super inviting to new faces, so it wouldn’t really be a surprise.

The giant male beside Yoko wasn’t incredibly comfortable with strangers but, unfortunately for Yoru, proved friendly to most. “Shiloh, from the market,” He offered her, undeterred by her standoffishness. Seemed like she wouldn’t get out of it that easily.

Upon being kicked under the table, Sadin made a 'this is war' face and promptly tried to kick back at his sister with equally short legs. "Curse you and your short legs! Curse me and MY short legs!" Sadin hissed. He glanced over at Yoko and Shiloh a moment before looking back at Yoru like, do they need a room or something?

Yoko blushed at Shiloh's totally random comment. "Ah, ehehe, sure!" He said and looked at Gau as a plate and bowl was passed to him so he could fill them however he wanted. He grabbed himself a large portion of noodles, added his choice of broth, meat, and veggies. He was a fan of Gau's ramen. On the side, he grabbed some egg rolls, and a little fried rice. "Go ahead and help yourself." He motion Shiloh to the food.

Gau smiled at his kids before looking back to Aderyn. "Alright. Don't wear yourself out." He told his little Welshmen.

"Welcome to the struggles of the short squad," Yoru grinned evilly back, "Strike first or miss the chance, grasshopper." She was the queen of the kick and guard game. The table was her domain! Muahaha- Wait.

Her internal monologue was cut short when Sadin drew her attention to Shiloh an Yoko. She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath to Sadin, just loud enough that he could hear, “Don’t be such a kid.” It wasn’t like it was something gross, after all. They were being sweet, sickeningly sweet, but it was just flirting and they both seemed rather dense. If they had the good sense to realize, then they’d need a room. Pff, she swore, Sadin was still such a new shiniko. Sometimes she forgot that he probably hadn’t dated or flirted much before.

Shiloh was quite pleased, meanwhile, that Yoko at least appeared to get the connection. He was a dark roast, so the pale cream boy would be his balance. It was hilarious, at least to him. He grinned, pleased at the understanding and slithered over behind Yoko to the alluring food. He glanced a few times over his shoulder at Gau to make sure he wasn’t going to be breaking any rules or get in trouble when he reached forward and tentatively got himself some food as well. It wasn’t stealing if Yoko wasn’t stopping him, surely. That was a- OOHHHHH He got the go ahead from Yoko himself! Shiloh’s eyes sparkled with the intensity of a thousand stars and he seemed to be the most grateful starving child in the world as he looked up to Yoko. Food was going on his plate immediately. Food mountain, food Everest! Yes!

The small Welshman snorted at his dema’s concern but honestly appreciated it in some way. “I won’t. Not like I’ll be doing much of anything over there. Just keepin an eye out,” he replied as he stretched out his shoulders and made his way out the door. “See ye when I see ye.”

Gau smiled and waved as Aderyn left before sitting with his kids. Sadin gave a funny smug grin to Yoru as they spoke and took a bite of food.

Yoko smiled and started eating his ramen. Gau was so good at ramen. His face was still red from the flirting session with Shiloh. "I hope you like it, though, I like everything Gau cooks. His ramen is the best!" He said, smiling. Gau smiled at the little one. "Glad you enjoy it kiddo." He said. Ichigo, Taddle, and Clockwork smiled as well and started filling their bowls and plates.

Gau casually watched Yoko and Shiloh, though his eyes more stared off past them and at a wall. He had taken note of the number of times Shiloh had snuck out to visit Yoko. It was kind of cute. He was glad that Yoko was able to make friends outside his house.

Shiloh beamed back to Yoko, “Of course! It’s wonderful~ I love when your dema shares.” He made sure to give the dema a wink, juuust in case it helped his case when next he slunk around and tried to get more food out of the deal. “The stuff on the market isn’t always great, but it’s worse for the demas who aren’t so important. You were a guard there, so you know how the food usually is. My dema ain’t got enough money to sneeze at and thus food comes in moments far and few between, and it isn’t any good either.” He smirked in an easy-going way. “It’s a curse and a blessing to know there’s something else out there, y’know?”

He crammed a whole eggroll into his mouth and seemed quite pleased with himself about that fact as he happily munched away. He didn’t really have a grasp on manners…. Eh, well, at least he was nice enough, even if not polite at the table.

Yoru rose a brow as if seriously judging, then immediately copied the maneuver. Sadly, her tiny little girl mouth was not as grand as the giant’s, so the whole roll didn’t fit and she just glared in defeat as she tried to swallow the huge chunk of food. Shiloh caught on and deliberately did it again, only intensifying her glare. This eating contest was rigged!

Shiloh just had words from the gods imparted and the jaw-dropped disbelief and wonder on his face said as much. Whenever he wanted? /Whenever/ he wanted!???? HEAVEN ALMIGHTY! He looked back to Yoko as if to confirm what his dema just said wasn’t some twisted joke, but seemed to have the answer already. “Yessir- thank you,sir. I’m very grateful…sir,” He awkwardly fumbled through over-respecting the dema within each sentence.

He nudged Yoko as if he needed to see this miracle, but listened to his explanation. “Crota doesn’t peg me as the type that would hand over a shinio to guard duty. Did he get something out of it?” The boy inquired.

Yoru accepted her defeat at the hands of the large-mouthed giant and went back to just munching on her food like a relatively civilized person.

Gau smiled at Shiloh. "No need to be so formal with me. You may call me Gau, I won't bite your head off if you do. I promise." The dema assured him. Yoko beamed and smiled at Shiloh. He seemed happy, and that oddly enough made him happy too. He smiled and blinked when he was addressed about the guard thing.

"Oh. Yea that. When Crota first found me, I had already turned into my spider form. Turns out my powers were quick to manifest. He saw potential in me and took me before anyone else could. Others saw my unique monster abilities and wanted to use me as a guard dog, buuuut at the agreement that Crota was paid a LOT in return." Yoko explained. He put his hand on his cheek. "Come to think of it.... Why did he let Gau take me?" He questioned.

Gau looked up and tilted his head. Come to think of it, he didn't know how he pulled off adopted Yoko either. He knew of a dema trying to buy Rat from Crota, and even then, that dema never gained full ownership over the creepy doctor. Crota was willing to send Yoko home with Gau, and keep him away from the market.

When Gau told Shiloh to be less formal, he first glanced to Yoko, then back to the dema. He wasn’t so sure. It normally wasn’t a good idea to call a dema by anything but sir or madam, he’d learned, at least in the circles he ran. His own dema wasn’t in high standing in the market and thus he couldn’t bluster with his master’s power or status either. He’d gotten in trouble plenty of times when he forgot to address one formally. Still, if Gau insisted...

“Y-…Yessir,” he muttered uncertainly, but turned his attention down to his food, realizing he’d already failed that task at hand.

It was a relief, then, that Yoko changed subject to Crota. Mmm, the situation was interesting. He wished he was that powerful that a dema would have coveted him. Shiloh, despite being a fighter in smaller rings, wasn’t all that gifted. He could take a beating and he could see through others’ eyes. That was basically it. Thus, any headway he made was due to his own striving and will, against all odds and facing the powers of others far stronger than himself naturally. He was learning, but it was slow, and most doubted him. He wasn’t blind to it either. He may have been stupid, but he could see that much.

“Maybe he cared what happened to you,” Yoru cut off Shiloh’s thoughts by answering Yoko’s ponderings, “I mean, if it doesn’t make sense any other way, could be.”

Gau simply smiled and nodded, it would take time, but Shiloh would be safe with it one day.

Yoko looked at Yoru and blinked. "I don't know... Crota has proven that he wants to keep his property in good condition, including treating his shiniko more like people and less like object but still displaying zero affection.... I can't blame him though, I know why he's like that. Rat told me, he tells all the rookies." He said softly.

"He said that Crota once had a shiniko he held very dear to him. He loved that shiniko like it was his own child. But other market dema didn't approve, so they took that shiniko from him, and forced him to watch as they turned him into the monster I'm sure you all know very well today... Con... He hides his care for use, and puts up a wall so that they don't do to us what they did to Con." The little shiniko explained. Yoko blushed and played with his hair. "Ah! Woops, I got a bit too serious there huh? My bad."

Yoko was scratching his head, but he caught an expression of horror from Gau's direction. He guessed his dema never knew that about Crota. "Err, don't tell any other marketers I told you that. Crota would probably blow his top off if people started talking about it again." Yoko said quickly.

"Don't worry Yoko-chan!" Taddle piped in. "If it would hurt you, we'd never do that. Crota's secret is safe with us, Con's too." He added. Sadin looked at Yoru and silently added, just so she could hear. "I'll bet that's why he gave Yoko to Gau... Perhaps he had a similar potential Con had, and he definitely didn't want those bastards stealing the kid's innocence." He said.

Shiloh didn’t seem too surprised at the tale and nodded seriously, as if it made complete sense. It was strange how most market children seemed to be on the same page about such horrible things. If anything, Shiloh was surprised to hear that a dema treated his shiniko like a child at all. How strange. “I wouldn’t have expected it to be Con,” he noted. He hadn’t been a runner and thus hadn’t faced the rage of the phantom chasing him down, but he’d definitely heard the tales. No wonder they often sent Crota to handle such things.

The tale brought a familiar chill and discomfort to Yoru, who did her best and didn’t react too extremely. She did look up at Yoko though and simply offered, “You don’t need to apologize. Life is heavy sometimes.” Certainly was… Glancing to Gau, she wished she could knee him under the table to get him to chill, but she was too short and he was too far away. She couldn’t be sure if it was or not, but the horrified look on his face probably wasn’t doing too well for Yoko’s comfort. “

“We won’t tell anyone,” Yoru agreed with Sadin, though casually as if it weren’t that big a deal.

To Shiloh, it made more sense when Yoko started talking about how Crota would be angry that people were talking about it again. It was like a lightbulb went off, but in the entirely wrong direction. “Ah, so he’s ashamed then. That makes sense,” He thought he was agreeing. Treating a shiniko like a child would certainly be embarrassing, right? Definitely.

Gau stopped making the face after a moment and went back to eating. Good thing Aderyn left for Ves' house, he would have thrown a fit in this situation. Crota's behavior, the way he protected and worried about Con, and even Con's refusal to obey any other dema's orders besides Crota. It made since.

Yoko smiled and gave a very small thanks to everyone. He looked over at Shiloh and tilted his head. "Hmm, ashamed? Of the feelings or... Ashamed that Con was hurt?" He asked. Sadin took a sip of his drink.

"I think he more would be angry from the pain. If he cared about Con, having to watch what those dema's did to him. I can only imagine that it haunts him every day. I know Ves and Gau would probably act the same way if something happened to one of their kids." He said though he had no idea how on the head he hit about Ves... He didn't know about Pompeii.

Yoko tapped his chin. "Yea. I can see that. Gau treats all of us like little kids, and Ves' shiniko like nieces and nephews." He said with a smile. Gau smiled and nodded. That was mostly true.

“Mmm… both I guess,” Shiloh answered thoughtfully, “I mean, a shiniko under his protection was turned, which is definitely not good, but he also was treating his shiniko like a kid.” He twiddled with his bangs a bit as he seemed to work it out in his head and decided, “Demas aren’t really parents and shiniko aren’t really kids. We’re more like… uh… Tools or workers, I guess, depending on which dema you’ve got.” He leaned forward on the table a little and nodded like he’d figured out how to say what he had to say, then added, “I’m lucky. My dema has us more like employees or whatever. Point being though, he probably is upset he got his shiniko turned because he broke the rules or whatever keeps it that way.”

His view was totally backwards and upside down from the ground up, but it was understandable, in a way. He’d only ever known the market. He’s been a market shiniko, following market rules, watching market demas, and being told market things. Logically, based on what he’d seen, there was a certain order to things and, when that order was broken, that’s when trouble arose. So in his framework, Crota would rightly be ashamed because his treating a shiniko like anything but a servant or tool broke the rules, so something bad happened. Namely, Con happened.

Yoru settled her brows seriously and turned a sharp eye towards the oaf, opening her mouth to spit out something sharp that would rightly cut him down to size, in her mind, but Sadin beat her to the punch with a much more…reasonable answer.

Shiloh didn’t know whether to feel real dumb and embarrassed about speaking badly about shiniko being treated as children or whether he should be worried because Gau was clearly breaking whatever order there was. Either way, he tried to find some way to not seem like a totally close-minded jerk and tried to relate. “I mean, my dema would be upset because of the revenue loss, I guess. I’m not the best fighter, but I do pay the bills.”

“That all you are to him?” Yoru was quick enough to reply, spurred on by knowing more than her housemate about how personal that was to their own dema. Her reply caused Shiloh to meet her with a confused, slightly lost gaze. He was fairly sure that his dema’s pride would be hurt too….but he was sure that wasn’t going t help him to say. It was clear to her that he wasn’t anything more than an item to the dema, then.

“Speaking of us as a house,” Yoru casually changed the subhect as she looked over at Gau, “I know you and Ves haven’t really talked sine the whole incident and that he ran off to chase Asher after that, but y’know, even if he’s still upset, he’s not really mad.” She rubbed her arm slightly as she admitted, “I can’t say either of us are comfortable with what happened, but you two should probably talk sometime… He’s not got a lot of friends, y’know?”

Ugh, she hated sentimental stuff, especially when she had to explain how someone else felt- especially, especially when it was vulnerability. Triple especially when it was /her dema/. She parted her lips to add something, but that’s when Kaliko appeared yet again.

Parading happily and blissfully unaware of the tensions or emotional talk,she held up two beach bags and announced, “One full of towels, one with all our swim suits, as per requested~” Her smile was bright and happy, slightly uncertain only after she noticed that she’d interrupted something. “Uh-I can just-“

"Hm," Gau mumbled softly. "I believe that Crota's actions are not a feeling of shame for not being like the other dema, but for failing Con. He probably mourns the loss and resents the other dema that hurt his child. I've noticed how Con disobeys those other market dema left and right, but the second Crota puts his foot down, he listens. Somewhere deep down in that cold phantom's heart, he still sees Crota as his one and only true master and father." The dema said. "It's actually kind of impressive." He added.

The dema's thoughts were cut when Yoru mentioned Vesuvius. "I see.... Perhaps... He can spare a little time to talk, and allow me to properly apologize." Gau said softly. " He added in. Yoko looked at Shiloh and put his hand on his friend's shoulder as if to tell him not to worry, and not to worry about Yoru since she was snippy sometimes. He looked back and tilted his head.

"May... May I ask what happened between you, and Ves?" Yoko asked Gau. The dema looked over and blinked. "It's nothing for you to worry about dear one, Pappa basically made a mistake, had a falling out with his brother, and now we're in cool down mode still," Gau explained.

"Oh," Yoko replied and then looked at his food. "Hay! Our foods going to get cold!" He said and started digging in once more. He was cute when he stuffed his face.

Sadin looked over when Kaliko came back and waved. "Welcome back, come grab a bowl and a seat!" He said.

Shiloh still didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he supposed maybe the outside world was different from the market. Maybe they were allowed to have shiniko be close to them and that’s why they thought Crota would be the same. He wasn’t sure if phantoms could really remember their pasts as shiniko or if they could be loyal still, but he supposed he’d never asked either. He was taught to stay away from them, taught that they were a danger to him. That was basically all he knew about their behavior, that they were dangerous predators and would hunt whenever they pleased. He nodded though, feigning actually getting what the dema said. He eased a bit when Yoko gave him a reassuring look and smiled sweetly, turning his attention back to his food as well.

Yoru, in the meantime, gave Gau a serious but understanding nod, both at his answer and when he explained the situation simply to Yoko. “I hope the halls weren’t too hard to fix,” she offered. Yoru still…wasn’t sure how to feel. She knew why Gau did what he did, but she couldn’t really accept it. It was just one of those things that they were going to have to choose to leave behind them. It was done. It wasn’t her house that had suffered… and she was fairly certain Gau wouldn’t do such things lightly, especially seeing how it effected Ves so personally. “It takes a while for things to cool down sometimes,” she added onto the explanation for Yoko, “Things have just been tense of late, but they’ll settle.”

When the young boy suddenly exclaimed that the food was going to get cold, Yoru glanced at her own emptied bowl, then chose instead to nudge at Sadin and bother him under the table to entertain her time. For a house of notoriously hungry shiniko, they sure ate slow.

Upon her invitation, Kaliko gave a bright smile and replied politely, “Thanks, but I already grabbed something before we came to pick you up. Yoru thought she’d get a free meal, but I didn’t want to impose.” She then whipped out her very stylin’ sunglasses. Setting them on her face and swinging her hips for valley girl effect as she came closer, she added, “I’m just waiting to rock the beach life~” She then let out a giggle as she dropped the embarrassing walk and leaned forward on the table. “I miss anything interesting~?”

Yoko Listened to everyone in the conversation. He couldn't quite understand attachments to phantoms either. Although, he had gotten the chance to meet the small angry red phantom, Vlad. Their meeting... Wasn't very pleasant. Vlad had ended up punching Yoko right in the nose. Though he had to admit, he wasn't expected the phantom to apologize, or feel worried about why he would act that way.

"Nah... It took more time to bleach and clean the blood out of the hall, and spare room. I almost had to replace some of the wood entirely." Gau said, reaching a hand up to rub his face and sigh. "I swear on my life Yoru... Had there been another way, I would never have done that... It was Vlad, Ves cared about him, and couldn't bare the thought of putting him down..." He mumbled. Sadin looked over but Gau had changed the tone right away to lighten the mood.

"Ah, nah you only missed Yoko flirting with 'dark roast' over here," Gau said with a cheesy grin. Yoko's face turned red as a shiniko mark as he blushed. "WHA-! I- I wasn't- I was just!!"

He blushed and covered his face frantically as his father embraced him. Gau let out a chuckle and smiled. Sadin looked over at Kaliko and smiled. So she liked the beach. He wished he loved it just as much but that deep water spooked him too much to go swimming too much.

Gau looked over at Kaliko and smiled. "Well. I'm glad you love the beach. Really sucks to not have a lot of people come around to enjoy the sun." He commented and got up. "I got to get and change out of this work uniform. Sadin, you know you're welcome to the men's bathrooms. You may pick out a swim suit if you want to get in the water." The dema said before bowing his head and exiting the room.

Yoru understood where Gau was coming from and she was sure that Ves would too, in his own way. That didn’t mean she was okay with the decision, but she knew why he’d done what he’d done at least. She could tell it still bothered the dema, too, which meant something, even when he quickly changed the subject. Despite the nonsense that ensued thereafter, she kept her eyes on Gau thoughtfully.

Shiloh, on the other hand, was entirely and quite easily distracted from the topic he was trying not to eavesdrop on. The topic, after all, turned on him and Yoko. He heard his playful nickname, ‘dark roast’ and immediately snickered. While Yoko exploded into a red hot mess beside him, the young fighter just flashed a brilliant, wide smile at the dema. He was a bit pink in the cheeks but seemed more proud of himself than anything. He obviously wasn’t as bashful as Yoko. “It’s valuable experience for your shiniko, I assure you~” He half teased.

Kaliko giggled at the events transpiring, whereas Yoru just rolled her eyes and settled back in the seat. When Gau spoke up, the dapple-faced young woman beamed up at him. “I love anything outdoors~ It’s much better than the market or being cooped up inside working all day. The beach is a special treat, though. Sunshine and sea breezes are wonderful!” She was just so happy to be there. It was going to be a legitimate vacation after recent events.

As the dema added in that Sadin could take any suit he wanted, she lifted one of the two beach bags and smiled sweetly as she announced, “Mora got it packed. Don’t worry. She’s enough of a mother hen that she didn’t let me leave the house without proper suits and sunscreen for these pale babes.”

“BAbEs?!” Yoru’s voice burst seethingly, only to be promptly and entirely glossed over with a nod and a grin.

Sadin could also tell that the topic of what happened bothered Gau as well. He didn't need Aderyn's empathy powers to tell that. He watched the dema go and smiled at the others. He looked over to Shiloh and gave a comment. "Maybe some of your outgoing spark will rub off on him a little. I've seen how shy he gets with customers sometimes. He said. Yoko blushed even more.

Sadin looked back at Kaliko and nodded. "Ah, thanks. I hate having to borrow from Gau so often, it makes me feel like a mooch." He said as he got up. He was now full and was taking his dishes to the sink. "I'll head to get changed too I guess." He said before laughing about Kaliko's sunburn comment, and went over to her and got out his swim trunks. "Be right back." He said and left the restaurant to go get ready.

Yoko watched Sadin go, still blushing before looking back to Shiloh. "Well, we have some spare swim trunks you could borrow too by the way. Once we're done eating, I'll show you where they are and where we change." He explained.